


The Consequence

by arianapeterson19



Series: Avengers Shorts [21]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Attempted Kidnapping, Avengers Family, Domestic Avengers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Kid Tony Stark, Kidnapping, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-14 22:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5760466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arianapeterson19/pseuds/arianapeterson19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lab safety was important - Bruce was always stressing that - but really, what was "lab safety"? </p><p>OR</p><p>The one where Tony gets turned into a kid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Consequence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kiri_Natsumi_Tetsuya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiri_Natsumi_Tetsuya/gifts).



If anyone asked at a later date, Tony was putting full blame on Bruce. Bruce was supposed to be the responsible one, the one who said no to things and checked stuff and made sure that Tony had slept before doing science with him. So really, Tony could not be held responsible for anything that may or may not have been his fault when experimenting with Bruce in the lab. Also, if anyone looked at it from a purely scientific point of view they would state that Tony was an engineer and therefore had no business messing with human biology – that was all Bruce. 

Unfortunately no one asked who was responsible because they were a little busy dealing with the consequences.

And the consequences – which could have been worse and the Avengers should focus on that was the argument Bruce was making – weren’t even much of a problem (or wouldn’t have been a problem if it had happened in New York and not Malibu like it did) until the consequence turned out not to be compliant in waiting around and made a run for it the moment the Avenger’s weren’t paying attention.

Even then, it wouldn’t have been a huge problem until the consequence ended up getting snatched up by the first shady character it passed on the street.

“Just hand the boy over and no one has to get hurt,” said Steve reasonably, hands out ready to take the bundle of squirming child sized Tony who was being held in the arms of a man who looked like he was rejected by the heavy weight wrestling community for being too huge.

“That’s very rich but I’m the one holding the gun so I’m the one who gets to make the rules,” said Muscles.

“Howard doesn’t pay ransoms,” said Tony, button nose scrunching adorably in anger. 

“Shut up kid,” snapped Muscles.

“Aunt Peggy is going to kick your ass,” yelled Tony right before he bit down on the mans hand with all his might.

The man screamed and let go of Tony, who tucked and rolled on the ground before he was up and running away from Muscles and right at Steve. The gun sounded, Tony screamed, and Muscles went down with an arrow in his throat.

Steve scooped up Tony while Natasha and Clint inspected the would-be kidnapper.

“You okay, Tony?” asked Steve.

“You can’t tell Howard,” said Tony seriously. “He doesn’t like to be interrupted for kidnappings and this one doesn’t even count. Does he know you’re here? He might stop being so grumpy if he knows you’re back.”

“Tony, you’re bleeding,” said Bruce.

“Where?” asked Steve, shifting Tony in his arms to find the wound.

“It’s just a scratch,” said Tony stubbornly. “You can’t tell Howard! He’ll get so mad!”

“We won’t tell Howard,” said Bruce as he inspected the gash that cut across Tony’s leg. “It’s just a flesh wound, Steve.”

“Where’s Aunt Peggy?” asked Tony, looking around. “Where’s Jarvis? If I’m not with Aunt Peggy I’m supposed to be with Jarvis. Steve, who are all these people?”

“Hey, calm down, it’s okay, they’re friends,” said Steve. “They’re my friends, they’re here to help. Tony, how old are you?”

“I’m almost six.”

“How close to six are you?”

“I’ll be six in thirteen months and twenty-two days,” admitted Tony.

“Okay,” said Steve, nodding. “Well, you’re going to hang out with me and my friends for a while, okay?”

“Did Howard say it’s okay?” asked Tony.

“Steve,” said Clint softly. “Can I talk to him?”

“Sure,” said Steve.

“Tony, you’re pretty smart, right?” said Clint. 

“Jarvis says I’m a genius,” said Tony proudly. “Aunt Peggy agrees and they’re both the smartest, even smarter than Howard.”

“Good,” praised Clint. “Now, do you think that time travel can be achieved?”

“Am I in the future?” asked Tony, jumping to a conclusion.

“Essentially, yes,” said Clint. “And in the future, we’re your family. So you can trust us.”

“So, where’s Howard?” asked Tony.

“We’re pretty far in the future,” said Clint cautiously.

“So Howard’s dead,” concluded Tony. “Okay.”

Tony nodded to himself as he came to terms with what was happening in the quietest way. Clint could almost see the cogs turning in his little head, sorting through emotions and feelings and figuring out what it meant and how he wanted to handle it. Clearly even at the young age of four Howard was not the best of fathers but the most telling thing was when Tony stopped asking about Jarvis and his Aunt Peggy. It was as if he had decided that if he didn’t ask then he could pretend that they were just on a trip or somewhere else and that comfort made the kid feel a little less alone in the world.

“Can we go back to the house now?” asked Tony.

“Sure,” Steve.

“Wait, let me finish this,” said Bruce, quickly wrapping the gauze aroune the wound. “There.”

“What do you say to Bruce?” asked Steve, bouncing Tony slightly.

“Thank you, Bruce,” said Tony softly.

“You’re welcome, Tony,” said Bruce with a smile. 

Steve brought Tony back to the house and set him on the couch, settling next to him. Tony looked around in interest, taking in the view and modern technology. 

“Is this where you live?” asked Tony, looking at Steve in awe.

“No,” said Steve with a grin. “This is where you live sometimes.”

“Only sometimes?” 

“Most of the time you live in New York.”

“Where do you live?” asked Tony.

“In New York with you,” said Steve. “Clint and Bruce and Natasha and Bucky and sometimes Thor live there as well.”

“Why?”

“Because we are a team.”

“Clint said we’re family,” said Tony. “Did you marry Aunt Peggy? Howard says were going to marry Aunt Peggy.”

“No, I didn’t marry your Aunt Peggy,” sighed Steve. “But we’re still family.”

Tony nodded.

Clint ran in and jumped on the couch, making Tony bounce slightly. 

“You’re Clint,” said Tony. 

“Yup,” said Clint, popping the p at the end of the word. “Bruce wants to talk to Steve so I’m going to hang out with you for a bit.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” said Tony with a slight pout. “I can take care of myself.”

“Do you want to play a video game with me?” asked Clint, ignoring the comment for the moment. “Here’s the controller. This knob makes it go, this one turns, and this one shoots bananas at people.”

“Okay,” said Tony, studying the controller while Clint set up the game. “What’s the point?”

“We’re racing,” explained Clint.

Clint and Tony spent the entire afternoon racing each other. Tony quickly learned and soon they were evenly matched. By late afternoon, Tony was exhausted and curled up next to Clint, falling asleep mid-match. Clint grinned down at the little boy and closed his own eyes, deciding to sit back for a nap of his own.

“Clint,” said Bruce softly. “Come to the kitchen, we’re having a quick meeting about….this situation. We have to figure out what to do.”


	2. Rhodey's Little Brother

The following morning the Avengers and their tiny Tony flew back to New York. Colonel James Rhodes was waiting on the common floor for them, pacing anxiously when they entered.

“Colonel,” said Steve formally, nodding at the Colonel. “Tony, this is Colonel James Rhodes. Rhodes, this is Tony.”

“Clint says you’re my best friend,” said Tony matter-of-factly, looking up at Rhodes.

“Yup,” said Rhodes, crouching down and smiling at the little boy. “We met in college and you became my little brother. Only now you’re much, much smaller.”

“I have a brother,” said Tony in awe.

In that moment the rest of the Avengers got to witness a rare display of real emotion from Tony Stark. For the first time they could see exactly how much he looked up to the Colonel. The way Tony stared up at Rhodes you would think the man personally lit all the stars in the sky. Maybe he did, Tony looked pretty certain that Rhodes could do anything.

“That’s right,” said Rhodes, holding out his hand. “Now, how about you and I go get some pizza with the white sauce?”

“How do you know I like that?” said Tony, grabbing Rhodes hand and following him into the kitchen where the pizza waited. “Jarvis doesn’t even know that.”

“I know you, Tones,” laughed Rhodes, lifting the kid onto a chair. “Just because you’re smaller doesn’t mean you’ve changed all that much.”

The Avengers followed them into the kitchen at a slower rate.

“So what we’ve learned here is that Rhodey has always been the Tony whisperer,” said Clint. “This could come in handy. I don’t think we utilize Rhodey as much as we should when Tony’s an adult.”

“I’m going to the lab to try and reverse the effects,” said Bruce. “Don’t bother me.”

In the kitchen, Rhodes was sitting at the island with Tony, laughing at something the kid had said. Tony was beaming at the attention.

“So what do you want to do today?” asked Tony. “You are staying, right? Or do you have to go back to work? Howard always has to work, he says I’m not supposed to bother him unless it’s important and it’s never important.”

“I’m staying around for today at least,” said Rhodes. “I was hoping we could hang out today. Is that okay with you? I have a bunch of Legos, I was hoping we could build something awesome.”

“Howard says I’m not good at building things and I’m not supposed to play with Legos,” said Tony. “Playing isn’t productive.”

“Tony,” began Rhodes.

“Oh wait, that’s right, Howard’s dead,” said Tony quietly. “So I guess that it would be okay to play. Maybe. I don’t know.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” said Steve, stealing a slice of pizza.

Tony looked at Steve, trying to decide if Steve could be trusted to make this choice. Steve smiled reassuringly at the toddler with his best Captain America grin.

“We don’t have to do it right now,” said Rhodes. “We can go on a walk first.”

“New York is different,” said Tony. “I saw the buildings. They don’t look the same.”

“We can explore the buildings if you want or we could go to the park or anything really,” said Rhodes.

“Can we go to the Manor?” asked Tony.

Everyone froze. Older Tony never mentioned the Manor, never wanted to visit his childhood home. From what the Avengers gathered, Tony didn’t have a lot of happy memories from that home, so that tiny Tony wanted to visit the Manor took everyone – even Rhodes – by surprise.

“It’s okay,” said Tony, sliding off the chair. “We don’t have to go.”

“We can go,” said Rhodes quickly. “I was just surprised, that’s all. But sure, if that’s what you want to do then we can do that. How about we go this afternoon?”

“Really?” said Tony, looking up at Rhodes as though the man had just given him the best gift in the world.

“Yes really,” said Rhodes sadly; he had known that Tony hadn’t had the best childhood but it was such a small thing, taking Tony to his home, that Rhodes didn’t think it deserved that level of excitement.

“This is so cool!” said Tony, running up and jumping into Rhodes’s arms. “No one ever says yes to me.”

Clint left the kitchen to go to the shooting range, needing to release some aggression on the people who claimed to be parents to Tony. He had always assumed that Tony had a spoiled childhood filled with everything he could want, fancy toys, and always getting his way. It shocked him to know that Tony had the opposite of that imaginary childhood but somehow it was more depressing to learn it was so from the kid himself, not the adult who played it off like a big joke. As the archer marched down to the shooting range normal Tony built, Clint promised himself that if Tony was going to be small forever then he was going to work hard to give him the best childhood he could, better than the one any of them had. It was the least he could do. Also, he was fairly certain that Rhodes would kick his ass if Clint did anything to upset Tony – small or regular sized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On an update roll!
> 
> Always,  
> Ari


End file.
